That night, after everything had settled, Daniel and Anna lay awake and finally opened up to each other—no guarded truths, no half-confessions left behind.
Piece by piece, everything spilled out.
Daniel told her what he knew: that her father had been accused of kidnapping Kathrine—and that Kathrine herself had admitted to it.
Anna listened in silence, her mind racing.
But what troubled her most wasn't the accusation alone.
It was what followed.
From everything she had uncovered, Kathrine's memories had been erased. And the person who had suggested it—who had convinced Hugo signed off on it—was none other than her mother.
If it had been done to protect Kathrine from the trauma of the abduction, Anna might have understood. She might have even believed it was an act of mercy.
But now, with the pieces finally aligning, the truth felt far more unsettling.
Things were different.
Too calculated. Too deliberate.
